


Conifers: a taxonomic drabble

by feroxargentea



Category: Master and Commander - All Media Types
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-04-03
Updated: 2010-04-03
Packaged: 2017-10-14 10:05:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 186
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/148103
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/feroxargentea/pseuds/feroxargentea
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Very short bedtime fic written for the perfect_duet songfic meme.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Conifers: a taxonomic drabble

Needles short, broad, almost succulent, with deeply-pitted stomata. Clearly Cupressaceae, Pinales, but the genus? _Thuja_ , _Juniperus_ , some form of _Cedrus_? No cones on the specimen. One hour, one quarter of an hour would have been sufficient to ensure a full sample of Tierra del Fuego’s meagre arborescent flora – a sharp glance at the portly figure humming over sheet music by the stern windows – and this scrap of flotsam was all Stephen had obtained.

“Coming on to blow by six bells, by the look of that cloud-bank. I believe I shall turn in while I may. Will you be long with your flowers?”

“Coniferophyta, my dear. Gymnospermae, not Angiospermae.”

Round blue eyes stared into his for a moment and then dropped to the deck.

“Conifers, Jack, not flowers.”

Jack nodded, not looking up, a blush spreading over his wind-reddened cheeks.

A smile lit Stephen’s eyes and pulled the corners of his mouth down. Of all Jack’s execrable puns, those literally unspeakable delighted Stephen the most.

He hung the specimen on his drying-rack, closed his notebook, laid his spectacles carefully on top, and followed Jack into the sleeping-cabin.


End file.
